Antonio Meucci
Italian inventor (1808–1889) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (/meɪˈuːtʃi/ may-OO-chee,[1] Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo meˈuttʃi]; 13 April 1808 – 18 October 1889) was an Italian inventor and an associate of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major political figure in the history of Italy.[2][3] Meucci is best known for developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone.[4][5]
Antonio Meucci | |
---|---|
Born | (1808-04-13)13 April 1808 Florence, First French Empire (present-day Italy) |
Died | 18 October 1889(1889-10-18) (aged 81) Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater | Accademia di Belle Arti |
Known for | Inventing a telephone-like device, innovator, businessman, supporter of Italian unification |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Communication devices, manufacturing, chemical and mechanical engineering, chemical and food patents |
Meucci set up a form of voice-communication link in his Staten Island, New York, home that connected the second-floor bedroom to his laboratory.[6] He submitted a patent caveat for his telephonic device to the U.S. Patent Office in 1871, but there was no mention of electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound in his caveat. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound by undulatory electric current.[6] Despite the longstanding general crediting of Bell with the accomplishment, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities supported celebrations of Meucci's 200th birthday in 2008 using the title "Inventore del telefono" (Inventor of the telephone).[7] The U.S. House of Representatives in a resolution in 2002 also acknowledged Meucci's work in the invention of the telephone,[8] although the U.S. Senate did not join the resolution and the interpretation of the resolution is disputed.